Pages

Thursday, June 30, 2011

1. Seriously...we are leaving for the beach tomorrow for a week and I am so overwhelmed with all the shit things you need to bring when you add a little baby to the mix. I did about 2904 loads of laundry today, packed multiple bags, and feel like i've gotten nowhere!

2. Seriously...my beach experience is going to be so much different this year. There will be no relaxing, reading, and working on my tan. It will now entail digging sand out of Saige's mouth and bathing suit, running back and forth to the house for naptime, and trying to entertain an 8 month old. Bye bye good ole relaxing beach week...

3. Seriously...Priscilla of Boston cannot suck anymore. You have had my bridesmaid dress for 3 weeks and it still isn't ready to be picked up yet? Perhaps you shouldn't have had me order a size 6 and it wouldn't have fallen off my body when I tried it on. I swear they purposely order you the wrong size to make you pay the $55 alteration fee!

4. Seriously...my hubby is driving me nuts. Tonight he asked to go for a walk with myself and the baby, of course I said yes as I thought he wanted some family bonding time. But NO, all he wanted to do was smoke a cigar. I could kill him. There is a time and place for cigars hunny, one of them is not while taking a walk with your wife and child. Dear lord help me.

5. Seriously...why does my 8 month old still wake up during the night to drink a 6 oz bottle? Mama needs a full nights rest before she puts some crack in daddy's cigars and smokes it herself.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

I am at my wits end with my contacts & glasses...it is always the same story.

They rip. They break. I run out of contacts. Saige rips my glasses off my face. Then they get crooked. I get an eyelash or piece of dirt in them and then my eyes look like i'm all coked out. It truly is a lose-lose situation.

I was blessed with terrible eyesight. I rocked these beauties in 2nd grade.

Why on earth would my mom let me pick those huge pink glasses? They were NOT attractive. Thankfully i've moved on to much more stylish glasses.

I eventually grew brave enough to try contacts in 6th grade and have been wearing them ever since - with many complications as of late. So I finally made an appointment with the local LASIK doctor.

It would be absolutely marvelous to have 20/20 vision, to not have to rummage for your glasses every morning because you can't see 2 feet in front of your face. To be able to open your eyes underwater, to not worry about taking your contacts out after a long night out.

There are so many pros...yet some cons as I learned today. I am severely near-sighted, therefore my cornea isn't as thick. Therefore, the surgery would be more invasive, causing the recovery process to be longer than the normal LASIK procedure. It's only a few more days but it is a lengthy pre-op and post-op process.

Friday, June 24, 2011

The last day of school was Wednesday and now I have until September 1st to vacation, relax, and most importantly - spend time with Saige!

The next few weeks are very hectic. Next Friday we head to Avalon, NJ for the week with my family, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and my 1/2 sisters family. My half sister Lea is from my Dad's first marriage and I cannot wait to see her, her husband Bob, and their two kids Sutton (age 7) and Sloane (age 5). It is such a treat to spend time with them because they live all the way out in Portland, OR! The last time I saw them was actually at my own wedding so it has been over a year.

On the trolley at my wedding

I can't wait to take Saige on the beach and see her eat sand dip her toes in the ocean. We return from the beach on the 8th and then BAM - it's my brothers wedding weekend. We have the rehearsal/dinner on Friday then the wedding is on Saturday the 9th at the Manor House at Commonwealth in Horsham, PA. I am SO excited, I adore my soon to be SIL and truly can't wait to have her as part of the family.

Unfortunately Saige is still too young to enjoy all the wedding festivities so she will be with my husbands parents on Friday night then at another relatives on Saturday. She will be greatly missed but it will give us the chance to get drunk enjoy it all and not have to worry.

Soo...it's a busy few weeks coming up - which means I will certainly have many blog topics (thank goodness...this shit is tough)!!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

...because I delivered my first baby in a record-breaking 3 hours and 10 minutes.

don't hate - it is true.

I had my lovely annual appointment at my ob-gyn yesterday and my doctor declared that I better plan my next delivery or I will be having my future son/daughter at home or on the way to the hospital, no thanks Doc. I prefer to do it in a sterilized hospital with lots of professionals and drugs assistance.

You see, my mom had very quick labors, her longest was at the max 3 hours. I never even thought to mention this to the doctors because my mom and I have such different body types. She is long and lean, I am only 5'3 and petite (well I was). I looked like I was smuggling a watermelon under my shirt, while she had so much surface area to hold a baby- I mean she was playing golf the day before she delivered me!

Now back to my delivery story - I was due on October 18 and come October 18, there was no baby yet and I had been 2-3 cm dialated for weeks. My doctors swore at each appointment that they wouldn't see me back the following week, but oh yes they did - little Saige was nice and comfy and not going anywhere! I had plans to be induced on the 24th if she hadn't made her arrival within the week.

I was doing everything I could to get that baby out - I was chugging raspberry leaf tea like it was my job, walking for miles on end, and forcing having adult activity as much as I could. Then came the morning of October 21, I woke up with terrible/worst pain in my life contractions. Good thing I didn't take those childbirth classes, as I was screaming and moaning through each one. We quickly made our way to the hospital (Lankenau Hospital - which is the shit), my husband still didn't believe I was in labor, he actually brought his suit to the hospital incase it was a false alarm and he had to go to work.

I checked in around 8:30 am, threw on a ugly hospital gown, screamed a little more, and then found out I was already at 7 cm (no wonder they hurt like hell). They immediately pumped some fluids in my body so I could get the epidural, which was heaven on earth. Mad props to those women who do it natural, I certainly wasn't going to be one of them. My mom & dad arrived shortly after as I wanted my mom in the delivery room with me and the hubs. I ate some popsicles, played on my blackberry, and around 11:20 - I was at 10 and ready to push! I pushed for around 15 minutes and beautiful baby Saige was born at 11:41.

It was truly a remarkable and wonderful experience. I can only hope my future children are delivered as easily...fingers crossed.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

You are such a pleasant and happy baby (except when tired) and I constantly get compliments on your cheerful disposition. You love to "talk" and can certainly shriek and giggle to distract anyone who isn't paying attention to you. You are doing such a great job at the sitter when you are there 3x a week. There are no more tears and I love getting a good report when I pick you up :)

We still seem to be struggling in the sleep department, mostly during the nighttime. You sleep from 7:30 pm-7:30 am, but will wake up 1-2x for your pacifier. I have scattered a few throughout your crib and you do occasionally find one in the middle of the night. No matter what, you always greet me with a huge smile in the morning. I think it is soon time to lower your crib as you have knocked over your sound machine a few times, I suppose I would get tired of the "falling rain" sound as well hunny. You take 2-3 naps a day, depending on the length. You have lately been taking a 2-3 hour nap in the morning and then a 1-2 hour nap in the afternoon. Or you switch it up on your mama and take 3 45-minute naps. You are certainly always keeping us on your toes.

You would also rather stand than sit, as you can see. I'm sure it won't be too long before you are pulling yourself up and cruising along the furniture. You can sit unassisted and are content to play with your toys, before you attack my iPhone or camera (they seem to be your favorite)

We are still chowing down on Gerber Organics, as we are now on 2nd Foods. You haven't found anything you don't like. You LOVE your puffs and it cracks me up when they get stuck to your face. I'm never sure how many actually end up in your mouth but they certainly keep you occupied!

We were just at the doctor yesterday for shots so I have up to date weight and height. You were born weighing 7 pounds 14 oz and were 19 inches tall.. At your 8 month appointment, you weighed in at 17 pounds 8 oz and are 27 1/4 inches tall. You are still wearing size 2 diapers and clothing ranges from 3-9 months.

You are obviously following after your mama with that blond hair and blue eyes. I couldn't be more proud. You are definitely my daughter, no question :) You are such a joy to be around and I love watching you grow and explore. You are certainly determined and have the army crawl down to a T, it won't be too long till we have a full on crawl.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Well apparently 4 years long distance wasn't enough for us, so we stretched it out for another 2 1/2 years of long distance. I moved to the Main Line (ahhh heaven on earth) to get my masters in school counseling at Rosemont...and Brandon continued the college party by moving to Hoboken, Nj and working as an auditor. While he lived the dream life, I slaved away as a full time graduate student and nanny. Let me clarify, I was hired as a nanny, then ended up fulfilling chores of a housekeeper, personal driver, and professional grocery shopper. It paid the bills and would look good on my resume. Fortunately, we were only 2 hours away and made frequent weekend visits to one another.

I began my job as a school counselor in the Philadelphia School District in the Fall of 2009 and FINALLY the hubby decided to move to Philadelphia in January of 2010. It was our first time living together and we were so excited!! But then we had a massive snowstorm - and no cable...which ultimately led to a HUGE surprise in the middle of February:

So for us...first came love, then came BABY!!

You may ask, how the hell did this happen? Apparently my years of inconsistent birth control pill taking had caught up to me - needless to say, it was a major shock to both of us. I may have cried on the bathroom floor for an hour and driven to the closest CVS and bought a test of every kind.

I had my first ob-gyn appointment at 6 weeks, and the same day, I purchased a wedding dress. Yes my classy lady-self had a shotgun wedding! We were going to get married anyway eventually, so why not make it official before the baby arrives? Now I have to say, not to be bias, I had a kick-ass wedding that was planned in 3 months. It was everything I ever wanted a wedding to be. And since we were on a time-constraint, I didn't hem and haw over every decision. It went so smoothly, thanks to my wonderful mom & dad who didn't bat an eyelash while writing their 100th check.

I was 19 weeks pregnant when we got married and found out we were having a baby girl 2 weeks later.

2010 was one hell of a year, I married the love of my life & was blessed with an incredible little girl.

As my grandmother always says, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".....

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The Mr. and I are such a cliche high school sweetheart couple, however, we certainly have had many obstacles to overcome throughout the 9 years we have been together

...and so it begins...

We started dating the summer before our senior year in high school, we had always been in the same circle of friends, just never had any romantic interest in one another (besides that time we made out on a golf course in 9th grade, oops). Basically, he started hanging out with some slut freshman, and I got jealous?! I instantly swooped in and snatched him up, all to myself.

Old School Photo...we were 17 here.

He played varsity soccer, I was the #1 tennis player (can't play now to save my life), we were quite the high school power couple (or so I thought).

Then came time to apply to colleges, time to figure out what the hell we were going to do after high school. I looked at a few schools around Pennsylvania, but then one weekend I traveled down to North Carolina with my parents to see Elon University. I immediately fell in love, after all, it was just voted #1 for most beautiful campuses. It was everything I thought a college campus should be, beautiful green grass, brick buildings, adorable sorority houses, and gorgeous weather all year round. Who wouldn't want to wear Rainbows and polos in February?! I applied early decision as soon as I returned home, and was accepted by the end of October. My current relationship was the last thing on my mind as I thought it was just a high school fling. He decided to attend Drew University in NJ to play D-3 soccer (what a mini David Beckham).

2003 High School Graduation

Fast forward through senior year, we fell in love (duh) and decided to stay together, and try the 9 hour long distance relationship. Fast forward through 4 years of college, and through TONS, literally thousands of drunken fights, crazy jealousy battles (there was no hiding what you were doing with webshots and facebook photos eeek), plane rides, hours of driving, and many break-ups (the longest lasting for at a max 1 week), and make-ups. We lived for those summer months when we could spend all our time together..

Boating in Toms River, NJ

..We somehow survived the crazy college years. It was the hardest 4 years on our relationship, but I wouldn't change a thing about it! Not only did we both get to live our college years individually, but our relationship ultimately grew stronger, and we knew this was the real deal...

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

I have finally gotten up the motivation to start a blog..after following stalking many blogs for months. I mean, who needs What to Expect When You're Expecting when there are 20394 blogs that focus on pregnancy/newborns?!

Anyway, since I feel like I know all of you, here is the 411 on me:

I'm 26 and live outside Philadelphia

Married and mommy to Saige (born on October 21, 2010)

Have a kick-ass family, including 2 brothers and a soon-to-be SIL (more on that to come)